Globalisation's winter

China is now the principal pillar of global integration

Every January, the global elite descends on the small Swiss town of Davos for a summit that has hitherto been a celebration of globalisation and its potential. The famous Harvard political scientist, Samuel Huntington, even coined the phrase “Davos Man” as shorthand for the attendees of the World Economic Forum (WEF) — the masters of a frontier-less world. WEF may have become a sideshow, just a talk-shop. But this year, Davos has a special significance — highlighted by the presence, for the first time, of the president of the People’s Republic of China. Xi Jinping will visit an iteration of